New Leader of AP Sports Editors Seeks Candidates

Facts and numbers aren't the same thing.

 

But it happens in the other direction, historically and more frequently, and that's the problem that is looking to be addressed.

-- It's the manager who doesn't hire the woman because he feels she shouldn't work outside the home or assumes her children will prevent her from doing the job.

-- It's the editor who doesn't hire the black man because "We had one once, and it didn't work out."

-- It's the candidate with the Pakistani last name who doesn't get a look because, well, what does he know about sports other than cricket?

-- Or it's the assumption that all female and minority candidates must be affirmative action cases and therefore not the best candidate.

-- Or it's the "This young journalist reminds me so much of me at that age! I've got to give him a shot, just like someone gave me a shot." ... When this is the thinking, and it comes from a white male editor, you know the rest.

Anecdotes aside, Cigar56 is right. There's not rampant discrimination against white men.

 

90 percent of those in the APSE survey. Not everyone, not indisputable.

 

So what are your numbers? Just offer a guess, based on your experience.

 

But a few more anecdotes doesn't mean the problem is rampant. There could be other reasons for the discrepancy, and there almost certainly are. But reasons are no fun, and they screw up bold proclamations that ultimately mean nothing. You hit the nail on the head earlier -- these initiatives are often pushed for the benefit of the pushers. That's not an effective way to address a problem, significant or otherwise.

 

That was not my point in recognizing that Anastasi considered himself a person of color. Don't twist my words.

 

Wish I could say this was an isolated incident. It's not. I understand your frustration.

 

Another unsurprising post from Mark2010. I should have taken the over on his post number on this thread.

 

May I turn them?

 

70? Maybe? The last job that was open in my area was filled by a woman. That's the only job that's been open in local sports in my immediate coverage area in 3 years. The last time my newspaper had layoffs? 75% were white men.

My point wasn't that the numbers of women and minorities in this business meet some magic number. My point was this: There are lies, damned lies and statistics and no numbers are indisputable. And that APSE doesn't speak for everyone.

 

And my guess is, if your paper had cut 75 percent of the black men at your paper you would have laid off one black man, at most. Or one Hispanic. Or one Asian.

My point remains the same: there is no "open discrimination against white men." There is no evidence in newspaper sports departments that people of color are gaining jobs at the significant expense of white men. It simply is not happening. There are not enough people of color actively working in newspaper sports departments for that to even happen. People of color -- at least African-Americans -- are declining in number on sports department staffs as fast or faster than white men.

Those 75 percent of white men that you mention who are being laid off? Who is replacing them?

Nobody. Not women. Not people of color. Not younger white men. Nobody. Make no mistake: People of color are also being let go, erasing many of the diversity gains in the 1980s and 1990s.

At your paper, 75 percent of white men were let go because they have the jobs in the first place. There aren't significant numbers of people of color to even lay off.

 

when someone has an opening and they say, "we want to enhance diversity, so we will hire a minority or a woman," that might seem like a great idea, but what they're also saying is "we will not hire a white man." THAT is discrimination. it's open, blatant, accepted discrimination. we can disagree on how rampant that is. i think it's happening a lot of places.